Slicing machine



sept. 19, 1939.- J. J. A-me er AL SLIQING IACHYINE Filed June 22, 1937 2sheets-sheet 1. v

Sept. 19, 1939. J..|. LAMERE i- Al. 2,173,336

' sLIcIuG MACHINE Filed .June 22, 1937 2 Sheets-SheetI 2 5 I ,f n 1.*29.5

l l ---a ZIV/W AY/ Ef@ Eff [mentions @el waere .'mwslerry Patented Sept.19, i939 UNITED STATES '2,113,336 sLlclNG MACHINE Joel J. Lamerc,Wollaston, and Francis A. Perry,

Malden, Mass., assignors, by -mesne assignments, to General ScafoodsCorporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application1111113.22, 1937, Serial No. 149,630

4Claims.

This invention relates `to an improved slicing machine and moreparticularly to such a machine for slicing or skinning fish fillets orthe like. The present invention affords an improved machine of theVgeneral type disclosed in the copendlng application of Robert F. Jones,Serial No. 149,109, filed June 19, 193'?. Such a machine is providedwith a lower feeding belt on which irregular objects, ,such as fillets,may be advanced to ya cutting knife. An upper presser means is arrangedto press the, distortable fillet or the like downwardly into firmengagement with a sur` face portion of the feeding belt that isparallelto the cutting edge of the knife. slice of uniform thickness may besevered from the irregularly shaped fillet or the like. Presser means ofthe type disclosed in the above-identil fied application may comprise aplurality of in- Provided' with separate yieldable means allowing thebelts to conform to the shape of the fillet or the like, or a singleloosely meshed belt may,

be associated with a plurality of suitable weighted rolls or the like,so that the belt is pressed into engagement with the irregular uppersurface of the llets.

In accordance with this invention, the upper presser belt means isgreatly simplified and .may comprise a single wide belt of elasticmaterial which extends between two rolls, one of which is located in theregion of the cutting knife. This roll is mounted on the ends ofswinging arms so that it hasvsome freedom of vertical movement and ispreferably formed of distortable material. In the preferred embodimentof the invention the presser belt is formed of a soft rather thick sheetof rubber, while the roll adjoining the knife is formed of soft,readily'distortable rubber.

40 A machine constructed in accordance with our invention may beprovided with a single driving and 55 Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectionaldetail showin Thus a thin dividual belts separately mounted on pulleysand y fords various advantageous mechanical arrange (cin-2) 4 thearrangement of the cutting portion of theY knife and of related parts.

A machine constructed in accordance with this invention may comprise aframe I having side bars 3 which may be conveniently vof angular 5 crosssection and which are supported by legs,

l 2, 2*`ar id 2", the side bars being connected by suitable transverseconnecting elements. Such a machine may be provided with a singledriving motor 4 provided with a sprocket 5 from which a 10 chain 6extends to a sprocket 1 (Fig. 2) on a `transverse l shaft 3. The-.shaft8- also supports a pinion 9 which mesheswith a gear II rotat- ,able witha sprocket I2. A, second sprocket is .rotatable `with the sprocket I2and the gear II 15 and drives a chain 2li which-'extends about asprocket 2l mounted on a shaft 22. A second sprocket 23 on the shaft22drives a chain 24 extending about a klarge sprocket 25 on a transverseshaft 26. A roll 42| (Fig. 1) is `mounted 20 on the shaft 26 and thefeeding belt 30 extends\ about this roll 21 at one end of the machine, Alarge gear 29 is also mounted on the shaft 26 and meshes with a gear 30awhich is arranged to drive a sprocket 3I and a chain 32 which in 25 turndrives a sprocket 33 on a shaft 34. The lati ter supports an upper rollabout which the end portion of the presser belt 36 extends.

Theshaft 8 extends across the machine and into a gear housing I3 at theopposite side of 30 the machine from the driving motor 4. Suitable.reduction gearing is provided in the housing I3 to drive a shaft I4 onwhichva sprocket 40 is located, Fig.. 3. A short chain 4I extends aboutthis sprocket and about a sprocket 42 rotat- 35 able with a pulley 45.The band knife extends about Vthis pulley 45 and about a correspondinglyfreely rotatable pulley 45 at the opposite side of the frame I. Y* Thesprocket I2 drives a chain I6 and a sprocket 40 I1 which in turny isconnected to a sharpening disk. I3 which rotates in a planeyperpendicular to the direction of extent of the upper or cutting run ofthe band. knife 50, the 'periphery of y this disk engaging the edge ofthe band knife 45 and thus sharpening the latter as it movestransversely above the upper run of the feeding belt 3u. The lower runof the belt 30 'passes over a Vtransverse bar. which extends between theframe members 3 at opposite sides of the ma- 5@ chine. and the beltextends about a roll 56 at the endof the machine remote from the roll21. The pper run of the belt 30 mayv incline upwardly fromthe roll 56and may pass onto a metal apron 51 which extendsbeneath the cut- 5| tingportion of the knife 50 and to the region of the roll 21. As shown,suitable adjustable supporting means 59 may be provided for the end ofthe apron 51 which is remote from the roll 21, thus permitting somevariation in the height of this portion of the apron and of the belt andconsequent adjustment in the angular relationship of the cutting portionof the knife and the adjoining surface of the feeding belt.

The feeding belt 30 may be formed of any suitable material, but weprefer to employ a reticulated wire belt such as is disclosed in theaboveidentified Jones application. Y Suitable spray means (not shown)may be provided over the lower run of this belt in the manner showninthe above-identified application, if desired, thus to facilitatecleaning of the belt. The presser belt 36 may extend from the roll 35about a roll 60 which is supported on a shaft 6I extending between theends of arms 62. The opposite ends 0f these arms are pivotally connectedto uprights 64 so that the rolls 60 may move upwardly, but this upwardmovement is opposed by the weight of the roll and of the adjoining endsof the arms 62.

Preferably, as shown, the pulleys 45 and 45a are disposed in a planewhich is inclined relative to the apron 51 and the adjoining portion ofthe belt 30. The upper run of the band knife 5D accordingly is inclinedat an angle to the adfective even When no fillets are passing throughthe machine in diverting the adjoining portion of the rubber presserbelt 30 from the cutting edge of the knife. Thus accidental cutting of*the presser belt itself is prevented.

Referring in more detail to the roll 60 it will be u. noted from aninspection of Figs. 1 and 4, that the cutting edge of the knife isdisposed adjoining this roll but not directly beneath the axis of-thesame. The ,roll is, however, close enough to the knife to cooperate withthe yieldable and elastic presser belt 36 in 'pressing the upper portionof the fish llet downwardly so that its lower surface is pressed firmlyagainst the planar surface of the feeding belt 3 0. Accordingly, sincethe cutting edge of the knife is in closely parallel relation to thissurface of the belt 30, the knife may be effective in cutting a thinslice of uniform thickness from the irregularly shaped fillet. Infactthe parts may be so positioned and adjusted that the thickness of thisslice may be but little, if any, greater than the thickness of the skinitself. Accordingly, a machine of this type is adapted to skin filletsWithout substantial waste. The roll 60, as shown in Fig. 3, preferablyconsists of a series of 'soft rubber disks 60* which are held in placeon the shaft 6| by metal end plates B3. y

When this machine is in operation, a fillet is disposed on the upper runof the feeding belt 30 in the region of the roll 56 and is carried bythebelt over the metal apron 5T and beneath the presser belt 36 and theyieldable roll 60. Ihe manner in which the roll and belt are distortedas the llet F passes beneath the same is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.The yieldable roll and the elastic nature of the belt itself cause thebelt to be drawn downwardly in engagement with the irregularlyconvex'upper surface of the fillet, thus .distorting the same andpressing its lower surface downwardly so that it conforms to the planarsurface of the lower belt. Accordingly the knife 50 may cut athinuniform slice S from the bodyportion of the fillet, this slice passingbeneath the knife 50 and the knife guide 65, as

I shown in Fig. 4, while the fillet passes over the knife guide. Thefillet and the slice or skin then p-ass along on the belt 30 over theroll 21. The skin tending to cling to the belt may pass downwardly anddrop into a suitable receptacle, not shown, while the llet may be liftedtherefrom.

It is evident that the present invention affords a simple, compact andconvenient machine for slicing or Skinning fish fillets or the like, andthat such a machine is characterized by a particularly simple pressermeans adapted yieldably to press down upon substantially all portions ofthe upper surface of the irregularly shaped llet.

We claim:

l. A slicing machine of the class described, comprising a knifeproviding a portion with a straight cutting edge, feeding belt means tocarry an irregular distortable object to said knife portion, said meansproviding a surface in-parallel juxtaposition to the knife edge, and anupper presser belt having a lower run above the feeding belt means inthe region of the knife, said upper belt being formed of yieldable andreadily stretchable material having the characteristics of rubber, thebelt being arranged to conform to the irregular shape of the object andpress it -firmly against the said surface of the feeding belt means, anda yieldable roll disposed above the knife, the belt extending about saidroll, the roll also being formed of resilient material having thecharacteristics of a rather soft rubber.

2. A slicing machine of the class described, comprising a. knifeproviding a portion with a straight cutting edge, a feeding belt meansarranged to carry an irregular .distortable object to said knifeportion, said means providing a surface in parallel juxtaposition to theknife edge, an upper presser belt of elastic resilient material arrangedto conform to the irregular shape of the objectand press it firmlyagainst said surface of the feeding belt means, and a yieldable rolldisposed above the knife, the belt extending about said roll, the rollbeing deformable when tension is imposed upon the belt as it conforms toan irregular object.

3. A slicing machine of the class described,comprising a knife providinga portion with a straight cutting edge, a feeding belt means arranged tocarry an irregular distortable object to said knife portion, said meansproviding a surface in parallel juxtaposition to the knife edge, anupper presser belt of elastic resilient material arranged to conform tothe irregular shape of the object and press it firmly against saidsurface of the feeding belt means, said knife being a band knife -andhaving a run disposed at an angle of the to said knife portion, saidmeans providing a surface in parallel juxtaposition to the knife edge,an upper presser belt ot elastic material arranged to conform to theirregular shape of the object and pressit firmly against said surface oithe feeding beit means, a first and a. second roll upon which thepresser belt is mounted, said second roll being disposed abovesaid knifebut not directly over 4the same whereby the presser belt l. is drawnover the knife, and. bars pivotally mounted on the frame and rotatablysupporting said second roll, the weight' cf said second roll yand of theadjoining portions of the bars tending `to press the second rollyieldabiy downwardly so that a. yieldable pressure is imposed by theelastic presser belt upon the portion ci the irregular object being cutby the knife.

JOEL J. LAMERE. FRANCIS A. PERRY.

